Rise and Slay: From Scandal Queen to Academic Genius
Chapter 38: I Have Never Lost

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: I Have Never Lost

Ji Xizhi hadn’t even reacted before the livestream was already going wild, with congratulatory comments scrolling like crazy.

[Congratulations to Zhi Zhi for winning first place, well-deserved!]

[Congrats to Zhi Zhi, once again a superstar, the strongest king none other than Zhi Zhi!!]

[Congrats to Zhi Zhi for winning over Director Wang, rush for the luxurious dinner!!!]

Ji Xizhi doesn’t have many fans, but at this moment, they’re all fired up sending comments.

Most of them became Ji Xizhi fans just in the last few days. Even the number of Ji Xizhi’s black fans is more than them. When Director Wang suddenly said he wanted to compare livestream popularity, Ji Xizhi’s fans never thought the winner would be Ji Xizhi.

In the afternoon, everyone was still using the accounts of their friends and relatives to charge ahead, but no sooner had they charged ahead, Ji Xizhi climbed to the top on her own strength.

Fans: ... Just so confused!

It turns out that having such an awesome idol is also a kind of pain!

Fans couldn’t get involved in the popularity contest, so they simply prepared congratulatory messages in advance, orderly and looping, giving Ji Xizhi prestige in the livestream.

On site, Fang Zhuyue and Qin Yutian were stunned for a moment when they heard the ranking.

They hadn’t watched the livestream, so of course, they didn’t know what Ji Xizhi had been doing these past few hours.

But then they thought, Ji Xizhi had just stepped down from the police car, and suddenly it felt weirdly understandable.

What other celebrity can go on a show and end up at the police station?!

The expressions of Fang Zhuyue and Qin Yutian almost overflowed with curiosity, but they were restrained because Director Wang was in front of them, not daring to act rashly.

Beside them, Zhong Yulu had been stunned from the moment she heard the results.

She was completely shocked, not knowing what had happened.

Clearly, when the popularity ranking was about to end in the livestream, Ji Xizhi was still at the bottom.

How could it be, in an instant, Ji Xizhi became first!

This is entirely impossible!

Zhong Yulu’s mind buzzed.

Standing beside her, Ji Fengyuan’s face was even darker and more frightening.

Director Wang didn’t notice the guests’ reactions. After announcing the rankings, he said:

"According to the program’s rules, first place Ji Xizhi will enjoy the feast of all the local delicacies flown in for the program today, while last place, Zhu Xiu’an, will face the program’s brutal punishment. We have selected the top three foods on the province’s worst-tasting list and likewise flown them in here. Please, eat them all Zhu Xiu’an!"

[Oops! Worst-tasting list, the production team has quite an imagination, haha!]

[Help, Ping’an Village is from X Province, and the worst-tasting list there seems to have a cake made from Chinese medicine, horribly tasting!]

[Mourning for the silly son!]

To emphasize the contrast, the program team specially arranged two tables for Ji Xizhi and Zhu Xiu’an to dine together.

Fang Yuliang explained the special plants within the province, and after explaining each plant, the staff would arrange a dish on the table.

However, Ji Xizhi’s side was vibrant in color, exquisitely presented, and the air was filled with the aroma of imported delicacies; Zhu Xiu’an’s side had dishes where no ingredients could be discerned, each dish looked stranger than the last.

Zhu Xiu’an felt a chill and quickly said, "Director, I’m dieting tonight."

Director Wang smiled fiercely, gritting his teeth, "When you were snatching food from me last night, why didn’t you diet?"

Zhu Xiu’an: "..."

[Hahaha, it’s revenge, right? Director Wang is quite vindictive!]

[Failed prison break for the silly son!]

Zhu Xiu’an was force-fed, eating with a twisted expression.

Ji Xizhi sat in front of the luxurious dinner, eating leisurely.

Once dinner was finished, the program’s closing moment had basically arrived.

This segment won’t have much post-production editing, so the guests could be a bit more relaxed, chatting, stargazing, and sharing dreams.

Ji Xizhi obviously didn’t have the mood for this. After eating, she went into the house, intending to talk to Director Wang about Ping’an Village.

Nearby, Zhong Yulu had just recovered from the shock of being second, and she looked up to see Ji Xizhi entering the room with Director Wang ahead and behind, even Ji Xizhi’s PD didn’t follow.

Ji Xizhi was talking to Director Wang alone! She must have used this method to gain first place in livestream popularity!

Zhong Yulu finally found a vent for the suffocating frustration in her chest. Her eyes flickered, and she silently adjusted her position so that her live camera just pointed in the direction where Director Wang and Ji Xizhi disappeared, and then she stopped.

She half-turned, making sure enough of the camera could capture Director Wang and Ji Xizhi entering the same room, but didn’t make it seem too deliberate.

Zhong Yulu stood rigid at the door, she had already planned to wait here for half an hour, and after that, she would pretend to look for Director Wang. At that time...

She would become the righteous whistleblower!

-

Inside the program team’s resting room, Director Wang and Ji Xizhi went in one after the other.

Once inside, Director Wang picked up the phone on the table, opened the trending topics, and said anxiously, "Do you know, the Ping’an Village issue has already hit the trending list, this afternoon your livestream had over a billion hits."

"Over a billion? How could it be so fast?" Ji Xizhi was quite surprised.

Not to mention her livestream’s traffic, even the program team’s traffic couldn’t explode like this in such a short time.

"Ji Fengyuan attracted it."

Director Wang rubbed his forehead. He didn’t expect Ji Fengyuan, who did this for Zhong Yulu, to go to such lengths. He was accustomed to running programs and could easily tell what trending topics were bought and which surged naturally.

Ji Fengyuan sacrificed his fans, paying a high price to attract CP fans, drawing quite a crowd to the livestream. Initially, Director Wang wasn’t too concerned, even somewhat pleased, as after all, the beneficiary was the program team.

But who would have thought, soon after Ji Fengyuan drew people in, Ji Xizhi discovered the factory wastewater incident, and within virtually an hour, Ji Xizhi’s livestream sucked over all the fans Ji Fengyuan had attracted, like a magnet.

Even Ji Fengyuan probably didn’t anticipate this result!

Director Wang’s expression was complex, but ultimately, the Ping’an Village issue was more important. He asked, "Ping’an Village is still trending, should we suppress this trending topic or not?"

As the program’s director, this kind of incident can be said to be beyond the program’s planned scope. At this point, the whole team should convene to discuss PR tactics, but recalling Ji Xizhi’s calm and collected manner of gathering evidence this afternoon inexplicably aroused his trust.

Ji Xizhi glanced at the trending "explosive" mark on Weibo, her lips curved slightly, "Of course not suppress."

Public opinion inherently supervises the law, and to a certain extent, public opinion can have many positive effects on judicial practices.

The Ping’an Village case needs more attention.

Director Wang felt less anxious hearing Ji Xizhi say this. He wasn’t very versed in the law, but Ji Xizhi seemed quite knowledgeable.

Director Wang subconsciously followed Ji Xizhi’s thinking.

He asked, "Then how did your investigation go? If Ping’an Village sues the factory for compensation, is there a chance of winning?"

Ji Xizhi lightly tapped her knuckles on the table and said calmly, "We took some videos, Fang Yuliang collected samples of the water quality, and parts of the land plants need to be taken back for testing. We’ll wait for the test results."

"As for the chances of winning..."

Ji Xizhi’s eyes slightly lifted, and she said lightly, "I have never lost."